Love and Dating The negative effect of social media on new relationships

Apparently, becoming close on social media before meeting in person has negative long-term effects.

As weird as it may sound in 2017, following or ‘friending’ a potential partner on social media too early may be detrimental to any impending relationship.

According to a recent survey, there is a chance that your budding relationship could be disturbed before it even got the opportunity to properly blossom.

A dating site, What’s Your Price, published a survey which involved about 15,000 men and women. The aim was to find out how soon they friended or followed a significant other on social media, and how long that relationship lasted.

According to a survey, being friends online might not be the best way to begin a relationship (Chimzi Fashion)

The survey showed that 26% connected online before the first date, 42% did so just immediately after their first date, while 32% waited at least one month after the first date before ‘friending’ each other on social media.

The men and women were then asked how long those relationships lasted.

In some surprising turn of events, those who were online friends before meeting in real life, barely made it past six months in a relationship, and only a meagre 18% of them enjoyed a year long relationship.

Of those that became friends just after their first date, only 12% made it up to a year in love.

The couples who took their time before becoming friends online stayed together longer than those that did not (Shutterstock)

However, for those that waited up till a month before following/friending each other on the Internet, an impressive 48% reached one year in a relationship.

According to Kristen Carney, Ph.D., associate director of clinical training at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, “Social media certainly isn’t all bad for new relationships, but it does present some challenges.

“And when you pick apart those challenges, it’s easy to see why connecting on social media could hurt a new relationship.”

Different strokes for different folks. Watch out for what works best for you and run by it.